ChristMyLife.org - Do You Love God?

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. (Matthew 22:37-38 NIV)

Do you love God? Is loving God the passion of your heart? God's word clearly teaches that this is the greatest commandment. Loving God is the most important thing.

My mind was drawn to this subject just recently as I was thinking about how I talk about God with other believers. If one were to look at what I say to others on the subject of God they would say I think very highly of Him. They would say He is important to me. I think they would also say I don't talk about Him very much in casual conversation. I also think they would say I speak of Him in more distant terms rather than as the passion of my heart. The typical things I might say would be, "God is the Creator and Maker of all things. He knows all things. He loves us so much He died for us." These are all fine statements, but the one thing I don't think I have ever said to anyone is, "I love God." It's as if I define Him almost exclusively by who He is, but I don't think so much about just loving Him. I enjoy His presence throughout the day, but there is a level of loving Him which I am only beginning to see.

I often write about how God is worthy of our worship, praise and adoration at all times, and this is most certainly true and important. It is most interesting to note, though, that the greatest commandment is not to worship and praise Him with all our heart. Neither is it to serve Him with all our heart. No, the greatest commandment is to love Him with all our heart.

Consider the interaction we see between the Father and the Son in scripture. In Christ's baptism, transfiguration and His prayer in John 17 we see how the Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father.

And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."    (Matthew 3:17 NIV)

While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"    (Matthew 17:5 NIV)

May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."    (John 17:23b-26 NIV)

I would submit to you that love is the defining characteristic of the relationship of the Son and the Father. It naturally follows, then, since we were created in God's image

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." (Genesis 1:26 NIV)

that the defining characteristic of our relationship with God would be love (note how the Trinity, and thus the relationship between the members of the Trinity, is referenced in the above passage).

The words, "I love God" and "I love you God" are meaningless by themselves, but they can also be a powerful barometer of our love for Him. For me, I find that I can say, "I love you God" to God fairly easily, but I cannot say the same of saying "I love God" even to my closest fellow believers. I don't say these things to make anyone feel bad about themselves. I want to challenge us to see the fullness of the relationship God offers to us all. We can love our wonderful God with complete abandon. It is God's complete provision for us in Christ that we can freely and completely love Him. All obstacles to loving God are more than conquered in the Cross.

The context of our love relationship with God is our family relationship with God. We are not just accepted by God or just saved by God. Much more, we are brought into His family through Jesus Christ. This truth is often described in scripture.

"This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,    (Matthew 6:9 NIV)

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."    (John 14:21 NIV)

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.    (Romans 8:15-16 NIV)

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.    (Ephesians 1:2 NIV)

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! .   (1 John 3:1a NIV)

We are God's children. Do we realize the enormity of this statement? Is the term "children of God" just a theological term or just another way to say we are Christians? Oh, it is far more than that. We are in God's family. Those of us who have been in church for many years have heard these terms many times and they may have little significance in our lives. Savor these incredible truths. Receive and enjoy God's boundless love for us. God is our perfect Father and He loves us more than we can ever know. In this relationship we can naturally love Him with all our heart. We can declare this love to any and all around us.

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